In this month’s ESPN magazine, the editors eschew reporting all together and use some garbled computer matrix to simulate a season. That computer picked the Broncos third in the AFC West at 8-8, ahead of only the Raiders at 5-11. The Chiefs are predicted to win the division at 9-7.

But, Ron Jaworski says the Raiders will be a surprise team, and will be helped by the Broncos falling into “trouble” this season.

A sidenote: Both magazines seem to like the Baltimore Ravens as a trendy Super Bowl pick.

Take it for what it’s worth — not much. National predictions often are based on the previous season and not from up-close observation. And if ever there was a league that allowed teams to turn completely around from one season to the next, it’s the NFL.

Weird. All I need is common sense to tell me that the Chiefs and Raiders are still terrible. That said, I’d take even odds any of the three of them (Raiders, Chiefs or Broncos) land at a distant (.500 or less) second place, with no AFC West Wild Card (again).

Honestly, who cares what the national mags say? They’ve always had a bias against this part of the country and even after Denver won the SB, we were told it was a “one-hit wonder” and didn’t admit the dominance of the team until after the back-to-back titles. The national media have never respected the Broncos and never will.

ESPN Magazine picked the KC Chiefs to go 9-7? That’s news to me. From what I read in my local paper, some areas of the “Cheaps” are still a mess–most notably the lines. The offensive line has a third-year tackle who was a guard in college and a center who is returning to KC after a two-year stint in Denver. Casey Wiegmann has been a Pro Bowler in both KC and Denver but got run over a lot last year by bigger defensive linemen. The Chiefs’ first-string DEs are a couple of ex-LSU Tigers, Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson, who aren’t going to make anybody forget Jared Allen. Jared was an All-Pro in KC but now is terrorizing quarterbacks for the Vikings. And the national magazines are once again predicting a 4-12 year in Denver. Despite all the Broncos’ injuries, I think we have a real chance to improve on last year, the “catch” being if we can get our running game going. And we’ve weeded out a lot of the guys who for whatever reason don’t want to play. That bodes well for us. A 9-7 mark is a real possibility in Denver this year.

These are the same types that said Denver would struggle to win three games last season and possibly finish with the league’s worst record. The same types that said the Chiefs were a team on the rise last year and that the Raiders would be respectable. I am not saying that these things aren’t capable of happening this season. I, however, take it all with a grain of salt. The Broncos’ injuries are concerning, but the Chiefs still have issues, and the Raiders still cannot play run defense consistently. As much as it pains me to admit it, the Chargers will more than likely win the AFC West again. Thankfully, San Diego will fold come playoff time as they always do.

I’m a big Chiefs fan and even with last night’s win, saying they’re gonna finish 9-7 and win the division is probably justification for drug testing at ESPN the magazine. Also, I think MOST cities think the national media hates them. It’s just that there are 32 teams and the national media just doesn’t know enough about each city to really know what they’re talking about. The Steelers fans in my family think they hate them, Chiefs fans are the same. Seems like California, Boston and New York – if anyone – get the unfairly positive treatment.

For a franchise with as deep a heritage as the Broncos have, this 2010 season seems fairly bleak. Since 1970 when we became an NFL franchise the team has fared as follows: 24 winning seasons, 9 losing seasons, and 7 five hundred seasons. Coach McDaniels is 2-9 his last 11 and unless owner Bowlen is completely blindsighted by this guys arrogance should be out as head coach after what I see is a 4-12 or 3-13 season.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.